Nikki Duffy
LATIN NAME
Cichorium intybus
ALSO KNOWN AS
Chicory
SEASONALITY
November–March
MORE RECIPES
Roasted chicory with honey, mustard and thyme; Grilled cheese salad with bullace compote; John Dory with creamed radicchio; Endive with chicken livers and bacon; Venison salad with apple, celeriac and hazelnuts
A form of chicory, this startling red and white leaf is as fantastic to eat as it is stunning to look at. Its pure white stems, thick at the bases, extend their snowy, branch-like veins into glossy, deep maroon leaves. These good looks – the result of the radicchio heads being blanched in dark sheds – are reason alone to use this leaf in a salad. But the flavour is also exceptional. Radicchio offers a wonderful thing: refined bitterness. If it is seasoned and dressed well, that sharp edge becomes quite delectable.
Although, of course, you can grow it yourself, radicchio is classically an Italian ingredient and different varieties bear the names of various towns in the Veneto, where it is produced. The finest, ‘Radicchio Rosso di Treviso’, has slender leaves and an amazing, full, bitter, nutty flavour. The earlier variety, ‘Precoce’, forms a tight, bullet-shaped head while the later, highly prized ‘Tardivo’ has distinctive, narrow leaves that are much more separate on the plant. ‘Radicchio rosso di Verona’ is rounder, and mild ‘Chioggia’ is rounder still, looking rather like a cabbage. There is also an almost all-white variety, ‘Castelfranco’, that looks like a big, blowsy rose.
In season from November to early spring, radicchio is the perfect counterpoint to rich, cold-weather foods: fatty meats, bubbling gratins and roasted roots. It is exquisite paired with salty ingredients, such as olives, bacon or cheese, and it enlivens starchy foods such as bread, potato and pasta. Roughly torn and dressed sparingly with a little olive oil and salt, you can serve it up as a side dish just as it comes. In Italy, they often just trickle it with hot lard and a splash of vinegar. But a radicchio salad can be quite special: try tossing the shredded leaves with mozzarella and smashed black olives, sprinkle with chopped parsley and trickle with a dressing made with olive oil, orange juice and a little balsamic vinegar. Radicchio and blue cheese is another stunning combination, especially if dressed with oil, salt and honey and served with sourdough.
But radicchio takes well to cooking too. Heat dulls its colour to a reddish-brown, but the flavour stays strong. As you might expect, it’s the Italians who have all the best ideas: quartered whole radicchios, fried until caramelised and tender, then topped with Taleggio cheese and whacked under a hot grill; wilted and stirred into pasta with bacon and garlic; or worked through a red-wine-stained risotto with lots of Parmesan.
ROAST POTATOES WITH RADICCHIO AND CHEESE
This is an amazingly easy and delicious all-in-one lunch or supper. It also works brilliantly with 2–3 heads of chicory or a big head of endive. Serves 6 as a side dish or 4 as a main
1.5kg largish, not-too-floury potatoes, such as Desiree or Marfona
1 large or 2 small heads of radicchio
2 garlic cloves, thickly sliced
Leaves from 2 sprigs of rosemary
Leaves from 3 sprigs of thyme
4 tbsp olive oil
5–6 tbsp crème fraîche
100g mature hard cheese, such as Cheddar, Shipcord or a good Lancashire, grated
Sea salt and black pepper
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into similar-sized pieces – halves or quarters, depending on size. Put into a pan, cover with water and add a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and par-cook for 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes and leave them to steam in a colander for a few minutes. In the meantime, halve, core and roughly shred the radicchio.
Transfer the potatoes to a roasting tray and scatter the radicchio, garlic, rosemary and thyme over them. Trickle all over with the olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Tumble everything together and bake for 25–30 minutes or until the radicchio is wilted and the potatoes are beginning to crisp a little.
Take the tray from the oven, dot the crème fraîche over the potatoes and radicchio and scatter with the cheese. Return to the oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Serve straight away.